Last night the orioles had a sold out house for the first time in Sept. against the yankees in the last 15 years. I felt like i was at game 7 of the ALCS last night ( thats how rocking that place was). if you haven’t taken a flyer on this team yet, I’m sure what happened last night will make you want to do so now. I was 12 years old when the orioles were in the playoffs last in 1997 and i honestly can say that this years team is just as good as the team we fielded then. There is 3 more games in Baltimore this week and I will be back at the yard on Saturday.
So whats been different you ask? Its obviously more than one thing here, but I think it starts with the rotation stepping up in the 2nd half. since the all star break, the orioles have been utilizing call ups from triple A Norfolk offering young pitchers the opportunity to get a spot on the rotation, struggling pitchers like Britton and Tilman have both found the winning formulas in triple A this year and have earned spots in the tail end of the rotation. Miguel Gonzalez and Steve Johnson are also young pitchers that have gained major league experience for the first time this year and look promising for this ballclub.
Another area that has drastically changed is the daily lineup until we found the best team to maximize fielding and minimize errors. Going into the all star break we were the worst fielding team in the majors. Betemit, Andino, and Reynolds all had the most errors in there positions at the halfway point. Reynolds has found his position at 1st base in the second half, Betemit has been replaced by promising rookie Manny Machado and during Andino’s injury time on the DL the orioles have traded for the consistent good fielding of Omar Quintanilla.
With the best bullpen in the majors the orioles have been able to win close games all season. Expanded rosters have now happened and the orioles have a winning record a solid team defensively and the bats are heating up. the Orioles called out the fans for attendance during the last 2 weeks of august and they have responded by filling up the seats with the orange and black. Buckle up baltimore this is a high speed chase in Sept. to the finish line. Go O’s!
Mark's Blog 